It is getting harder and harder to deny climate change, but we can be certain that the dupes of the petroleum industry propaganda will continue to try. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual “State of the Climate” report found that 2012 was the warmest year on record in the contiguous United States and the second most extreme year on record for the nation:

2012 was a historic year for extreme weather that included drought, wildfires, hurricanes and storms; however, tornado activity was below average

2012 marked the warmest year on record for the contiguous United States with the year consisting of a record warm spring, second warmest summer, fourth warmest winter and a warmer-than-average autumn. The average temperature for 2012 was 55.3°F, 3.2°F above the 20th century average, and 1.0°F above 1998, the previous warmest year.

The average precipitation total for the contiguous U.S. for 2012 was 26.57 inches, 2.57 inches below average, making it the 15th driest year on record for the nation. At its peak in July, the drought of 2012 engulfed 61 percent of the nation with the Mountain West, Great Plains, and Midwest experiencing the most intense drought conditions. The dry conditions proved ideal for wildfires in the West, charring 9.2 million acres — the third highest on record.

The U.S. Climate Extremes Index indicated that 2012 was the second most extreme year on record for the nation. The index, which evaluates extremes in temperature and precipitation, as well as landfalling tropical cyclones, was nearly twice the average value and second only to 1998. To date, 2012 has seen 11 disasters that have reached the $1 billion threshold in losses, to include Sandy, Isaac, and tornado outbreaks experienced in the Great Plains, Texas and Southeast/Ohio Valley.

NBC has done some great things for America. They gave us Seinfeld, Friends, and West Wing. They might have also given Donald Trump a television show, but they redeemed themselves by talking him out of running for president. From E:

NBC Chairman Robert Greenblatt took the stage with NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke and President of Alternative and Late Night Programming Paul Telegdy to talk about their position on Trump’s controversial behavior this past year. Plus, are they worried about Jimmy Kimmel going up against Jay Leno?

When asked about Trump’s remarks during the presidential race and if they ever considered stepping in, Greenblatt replied: “That’s a good question. I don’t really know the answer to it. We live in this country where you can sort of say anything you want as long as you’re not harming people. He’s got a political belief system and we talk to him all the time, but I really don’t think that what he’s doing in his personal life is going to corrupt what’s happening on the show. That said, if he sort of becomes somehow hurtful or says or does things that cross a line, I guess we would figure out what to do about that.”

Telegdy added: “He keeps a lot of publicists very busy, but so far we’re fine.”

According to Greenblatt, the public has gotten off lucky regarding Trump in the media. “We talked him out of running for president. Wasn’t that good enough?” he jokingly asked the room of reporters.